Because Hubbard lives in an area of suburban Virginia where (noisy!) male chickens are not permitted, she rehomed Chickpea at Burgundy Farm Country Day School, which has a sanctuary for rescued farm animals.

“Giving Chickpea up was such a hard thing — it felt like ripping my heart out,” Hubbard said. “On the other hand, he’s so happy there. I visit him every week, and I get pictures from the caretakers on a daily basis. He’s living the best life ever, but I was totally missing him.”

And Minnow, Hubbard noticed, missed him, too. So when they were called upon to foster a rescue turkey from a factory farm in West Virginia, she was eager to help.

Blossom came from a “grow house,” where turkeys are held and fattened as they are prepared for slaughter. When Blossom was accidentally left behind, a kind farm worker helped get her to a rescue group.

Though confused at first, once home, Blossom seemed to normalize quickly. Minnow had a lot to do with that.

“She walked right up to Minnow, and she got into Minnow’s bed,” Hubbard said. “It was so cute. She was like, ‘Oh, this is a dog bed — well, this is great.’ She started to fluff her feathers up in the bed, and she cuddled up to Minnow.”

The dog fell similarly in love as she had with Chickpea before. Hubbard has other rescue animals at home — including two parrots and a parakeet. Blossom fit right in.

“She just melted right into our house and family,” Hubbard said.

And these days, as Blossom grows, she and Minnow are getting more playful.

“Minnow loves to just zoom around, and Blossom has picked up on the zoomies,” Hubbard said. “So she runs around and acts silly, and her legs go out on the side, and her wings are going every which way. It cracks me up. It’s so funny.”

Although they are a close pair, Hubbard plans to rehome Blossom at Burgundy Farm Country Day School, too, She thinks Blossom will be happier there.

There will be more rescue fowl in Minnow’s future, but for now these two are couch potato buddies. Photo: Abbie Hubbard

“I would love to keep her, but I live in a townhouse and she lives inside,” Hubbard said. “We’re going to see how she feels at Burgundy Farm.”

When Blossom moves out, a space will open at the townhouse for another rescue bird, which is in Hubbard’s plans. For now, though she is enjoying watching the special relationship between Minnow and Blossom.

“They bring out so much happiness in each other,” Hubbard said. “It’s kind of neat.”